Page 38 of Sweets and Sycamores

EYES ON ME

“Tell me more about your power. How do you use it, for this task specifically?” Allie started as they walked down the forested path to the secluded clearing. “I only know basic things about Mages.”

“There’s not much public knowledge about us,” Dominic sighed.

They both had their hands in their pockets and walked within arm’s length of each other.

“For this mission, the only power tactic I can use is to imbue the earth with my magic and search for the rupture.” Allie tried to imagine that but came up blank.

“How does that work?”

“I send waves of my magic through the earth’s magic, which is connected to the sycamores everywhere but where the spell is broken. I must check every inch and every sycamore on this land. It’s taking forever,” Dominic grumbled.

“Do you need to be in different places each time?”

“Not really. I can search as far as my magic can reach. The clearing here is a central spot in the land, allowing me to reach the furthest.” And she’d stolen his spot.

“How much have you searched already?”

“Not nearly enough. Not even half, and I’ve been at it for months.”

Oh. Allie heard the words he didn’t say, that he didn’t have much time until another calamity hit. She had read in books that magic didn’t survive long after a spell like this was broken. The sycamores and the magic here were in real danger.

It also sounded like Dominic was using tremendous amounts of power every time, and so far, with no results. His overall grumbly self made more sense to Allie now.

“Can I see?” she asked.

“You won’t be able to see anything, but maybe you could feel the power.”

Dominic crouched down and laid his palm on the ground.

He closed his eyes, and the next moment, Allie felt a soft vibration underneath, barely strong enough to register if she wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings.

She watched her boss’s expression turn into a frown, his breathing intensifying.

His splayed hand shook, beads of sweat forming around his temples.

It was impossible for her to imagine the extent of a Mage’s power, but it sure looked difficult and tiresome.

The tremor stopped abruptly as Dominic rose to his feet and heaved a sigh.

“That was just searching around here and past the river,” he panted. Allie’s eyes widened, her jaw dropping between her ankles.

“So much power for covering only this small area?” she asked with disbelief. Her boss nodded solemnly, jaw clenching under his chestnut stubble. “You can’t get anyone else to help?”

“There are very few Mages, and so many places that need our help. It would be selfish to pull one of my peers away from their tasks to help with mine. Besides, Sycamore Falls is my home. It’s my duty to protect it.

” He said this with ease, as if it was the most natural thing to bear so much responsibility.

Allie smiled sadly, wishing she loved something—or someone—so much that she would give anything to protect them.

She had hoped her coven sisters would become those people for her.

Even only one of her sisters would have sufficed, but beyond being grateful for having a place to stay and some sense of community, Allie didn’t feel much toward the Silverbarks.

They certainly felt nothing good toward her.

Now that she had summoned fire and woven it to her will, Allie was starting to lose the desire for them to accept her.

Allie could finally be herself, an elemental Witch playing with fire.

And maybe it was enough that she accepted herself.

So what else was out there for her? She could return to the coven and live her predictable life, just like her mother. There were worse fates for Witches, but…

Would it be enough?

She had another month before Lydia expected her to come back, power mastered. And she was confident she would learn to command it expertly before then.

Allie watched the man in front of her deep in thought, as if he’d tear the world apart to find a cure for the magic that protected his home, and she decided she would adopt his dream until it came true.

She couldn’t pretend to love Sycamore Falls, but she cared about Dominic, this strong Mage who had taken her in and helped her without batting an eye.

Allie didn’t want to help Dom because they had made a deal.

She just wanted to help him, plain and simple.

From a two-month deadline to master her power to a one-month timeline to find a cure for the sycamores, Allie felt like she had a purpose. A goal. She didn’t want to think about going back to Pearls Fields. Not yet.

“Do you know the areas you’ve already searched?

” Dominic told Allie how far he’d reached in each direction.

Going back and forth to Riverbend gave her a bit more knowledge about the town, so she registered every place her boss listed.

“Give me some time to think about this, maybe I can come up with a plan.”

“Thanks, Allie.” His lips rolled in a straight line that made it clear Dominic was uncomfortable getting help, yet sufficiently annoyed with the issue to accept it. “Your turn.” He crossed his arms across his chest, muscles bulging under the leather jacket.

“Okay.”

Allie concentrated on the warmth in her chest, hot and buzzing, like the power had heard Dom and was at the ready.

Thread by thread, she unspooled power from the core until a flame ignited at her fingertips.

This way of molding power had become easier with every summoning, and it gave Allie peace of mind to work with her magic in these defined steps.

“How did you come up with the ball of yarn analogy?”

“Learned it in school,” the Mage said, narrowing his eyes on her upturned palm. “Make it bigger.”

Allie rolled the thread and expanded the fire to a melon-sized flame.

Instinctively, she took a step back, together with the fire that was attached to her.

She chuckled at her silly fear, straightening her spine and mustering the courage not to budge from a fire that was not hurting her and would never hurt her.

“Bigger.” Allie shifted her gaze from the flame to Dominic to see if he was messing with her.

He wasn’t. Determination mixed with silent challenge simmered in his eyes, and Allie wanted to rise to his expectations.

She unspooled the warm thread of magic and fed the fire until it was as big as the time Dominic had taught her the yarn trick.

This time, she kept her breathing in check, her arm steady, and her power completely in control.

The feeling that her magic would never betray her was present now more than ever and made her grin with pride.

Just a month ago, she had been a danger to the people around her, and now she could use her power safely.

She could enjoy being a Witch, having magic, and using it whenever and however she liked.

“Bigger.”

“What?”

“Bigger.”

“I heard you the first time.” Allie sounded snarkier than she’d intended, but what did he mean bigger?

The flame was about four feet tall. Any bigger than that and it would swallow her.

Dominic looked at her with an “If you heard me, then do it” expression on his face.

The fear she was so proud of not feeling reared its ugly head and caused Allie’s heart rate to grow to a strong, quick pounding.

Telling this powerful Mage she was scared was equally terrifying.

Allie didn’t want to disappoint him. Curiosity raced for a place in her mix of emotions: how much farther could she take it?

How much power could she handle? Allie wanted to tell him everything and nothing at the same time.

“Dom.”

That summed it up.

Dominic got closer than anyone not controlling a huge wall of fire had business getting. The sparks danced in his green eyes as he fixed them on her, then extended his arm and grabbed her free hand.

“What—”

“Allie,” he said in that commanding voice of his. Dom interlaced their fingers as if he had always done that, his cold skin cooling her fiery one. He squeezed her hand as his brows furrowed, that notorious frown reigning over his features. “I would never let anything happen to you.”

Allie was sure of two things in that moment: one, she’d squeezed Dominic’s hand harder than he had hers, and two, her mouth hung open in a big, stupid O.

“You trust me, right?”

“I do!” Allie answered way too fast, too enthusiastically. But she didn’t want there to be any doubt about how much she trusted this man. “I do.”

“Good.” Dom settled his hand better in hers, then said something that ignited Allie’s heart more than any magic ever could. “Don’t be afraid to burn bright. I will put out all your fires.”

The Mage used his free hand to create a bubble of air in his palm, ready to extinguish anything she set aflame.

And this reassurance, this safety net he created for her, made Allie’s crush deepen.

Grow. He cradled her heart in a way she would never be able to put into words, and the thing only pumped blood like crazy and spun feelings into her.

But now was not the time to focus on that.

Allie frowned at the flame in her hand, threatening to reduce it to smoke if it dared hurt the man holding her hand.

In this moment, with him so close to her, Allie didn’t fear for herself anymore; she feared for him.

For she would not be able to live knowing she’d hurt the one who meant so much to her. The one her heart fluttered over.

The flame smoldered in her hand in a threat of its own, but Allie was determined to win this silent war. She tugged at the string of power, and the fire exploded. Hot sparks danced and crackled through the cold air, and Allie looked up, up, noticing the fire was as tall as her.

“Set it down,” Dominic ordered.

“Do you want me to set the forest on fire?”

“You won’t. Set it down.”